Guest Post: Uncle Arie!

Guest Post here, Uncle Arie reporting live from the Colorado Koorn homestead, where I have spent the most delightful week eating turkey and leftovers, catching up with the family, and chasing little Freja around the house.  I had not seen her since February, and in the intervening months she somehow acquired two of our species' distinguishing traits, namely speech and the ability to walk upright.  But never has Homo sapiens performed either activity as charmingly as my little niece.  After a couple shy moments when I first arrived, she began to lead me around her domain, pulling out her favorite toys in turn and handing them to me, naming them one at a time: "drum," "Legos," "ball," and so on.  Then it was on to her books, and then to the window, and a brief spell with my smartphone (which she is clearly more adept at than I), and then back to her Legos for round two of the circuit.

Freja also proved an enthusiastic guide at the park and in downtown Aspen, and she had me running hither and yon (no, not you, Jan) and stooping to investigate every leaf and stone and friendly doggie along the way.  She has an inexhaustible supply of energy and smiles, and she continually amazed me with her awareness and understanding of what was said and done around her.

I should mention that there were big people here as well this week, and I trust they will forgive me for the short shrift they are given here, being that they are all as understandably enthralled by Freja as I am.  Jan and Kelly were perfect hosts, somehow finding time to catch up and go hiking between parenting, cleaning, and cooking a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.  It was great to see Mom and Dad in their new roles as Gramy and Grandpa, and even more to see Jan and Kelly obviously enjoying being parents, and doing an amazing job of it to boot.  Thank you all for a wonderful week!

On the Move!

Gratuitous Freja shot - didn't want to leave her out of this post! Here she is sporting her new winter coat on her way in to the Basalt library on Monday morning.

For the past few weeks I have been feeling the baby move here & there, and about a week ago Jan finally got to feel her move too. I really should have him writing this week's blog post to give you his POV. Little Secondi is on the move lately, still no big kicks or punches, but definitely doing somersaults (and using my bladder as a trampoline) at all hours, day & night. You might think since we are BTDT (been there, done that) parents-to-be that it's no big whoop, but it's still very exciting & reassuring feeling her ongoing activity.

For week 23 - How your baby's growing:
With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking cat meowing or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb. This week marks the beginning of some serious weight gain. Your baby's weight in the next four weeks alone should double. (Yipes!) You have probably heard your developing baby's heartbeat through a Doppler a number of times already (though you never get tired of hearing it), but by now you can also hear it through a standard stethoscope. What a heart throb!

Bunn-it

Freja helped me whip up some meatballs yesterday, and Jan got this quick clip of her saying bunnit instead of button. It's one of our favorite Freja-isms, I'm so glad we got it on video as she'll probably correct herself soon. Little mistakes like this are just the cutest.

She LOVES helping in the kitchen, especially when that means she can push the bunnits on the food processor or turn on the big mixer!